CA Group Delivering CO2 Savings for Royal Mail
A new Carbon Neutral Royal Mail distribution hub has recently been completed in Swan Valley, Northamptonshire. The new building features an 800m² SolarWall® from CA Group, which helps the building to achieve an overall reduction in operational carbon emissions of 66% (The SolarWall® contributes to a total of 59 tonnes of CO2 savings per annum.)
The SolarWall® perforated Transpired Solar Collector (pTSC) is an innovative solar air heating system that utilises solar radiation to deliver naturally warmed fresh air into the Royal Mail building providing a renewable heat energy source. SolarWall® has been supplied by CA Group in conjunction with Corus specifically for the UK market. With its proven heating cost reductions of up to 50%, SolarWall® easily exceeds the Merton Rule requirement for renewable energy, whilst also offering the usual paybacks through energy savings of as little as three years for new build and seven years for refurbishment projects.
Fully funded by Aviva Investors, the building has achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent’ accreditation with a score of 76.76% and an Energy Performance (EPC) ‘A’ rating (CO2 index 21). The building was designed and developed by ProLogis to function passively with the most energy efficient plant available specified for essential energy usage.
Brian Watson, Commercial Director, CA Group said: “It was a privilege to be involved in such a pioneering project in terms of ecological building. The Royal Mail distribution hub is a shining example of how simple but intelligent building technologies can be deployed in such a way as to drastically reduce operational energy use.
Thanks to the forward thinking of the ProLogis team, we have another great example of how SolarWall® is delivering outstanding results for customers who are committed to reducing their carbon footprint. In addition to Royal Mail, companies such as Jaguar Land Rover and Sainsbury’s are already enjoying measurable benefits following the installation of SolarWall® on their buildings; proving that it is the most viable renewable technology available in the UK today.”
Not wanting to compromise the look of the building, CA Group used the Arc 50 profile and the sheets were laid horizontally to enhance the aesthetics of the building. The SolarWall® at the Royal Mail hub is used with Corus Colorcoat® Prisma (Zeus) which comes with the Corus Confidex Guarantee which is maintenance and inspection free for up to 25 years. The carbon footprint of the CA roof and wall cladding systems and SolarWall® was assessed under Corus Confidex Sustain® and offset to provide a CarbonNeutral building envelope.
The 18,000m² roof is built using the Twin-Therm® system, also from CA Group. The Twin-Therm® system has been specifically developed to minimise the number of components, reducing the potential for installation error.
The building has been short listed for the Estates Gazette Green Awards.
To read more about the project click here to read the case study.
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